Rack for paper bags or the like



June 18, 1963 s. w. PETERSON 3,094,217

RACK FOR PAPER BAGS OR THE LIKE Filed May 12, 1961 X Fl 6. I 1 /4 24 22)24 4 l8 VO @5 l Q //7x FI6.2

h v INVENTOR STANLEYW-PETERSON ,4 TORNEY United States Patent 3,094,217RACK FOR PAPER BAGS OR THE LIKE Stanley W. Peterson, Racine, Wis.,assignor of one-fourth to Andrew J. Cottone, Racine, Wis., andone-fourth to Alex F. Skover, La Crosse, Wis.

Filed May 12, 1961, Ser. No. 116,226 3 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) Thisinvention relates to paper bag racks, and more particularly it relatesto a bag rack of the type which can be mounted on a cabinet door or thelike.

'It is an object of this invention to provide an improved rack forholding a supply of paper products such as bags or the like and to do soin a manner so that the bags can be readily inserted into the rack andwithdrawn therefrom.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a paper bag rackwhich permits easy access to the bags in the rack, and which has a largecapacity for retaining a quantity of bags, and which is neverthelesssimple and inexpensive in its manufacture and in its mounting on acabinet door or the like.

Still another specific object of this invention is to provide a paperbag rack which automatically causes the bags to be held therein by awedging action which is effective in conjunction with the tendency of afolded bag to expand.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a bag rack whichcan be stacked in a plurality of racks in a very minimum space for thepurpose of conserving store counter space or the like, and inaccomplishing this particular object, the racks of this invention can bereadily nested in a compact relation for the feature mentioned.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading thefollowing disclosure in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a rack of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the rack.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the rack and showing another rackstacked therewith in dotted lines.

FIG. 4 is a reduced perspective view of the rack shown in position on acabinet] oor or the like.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout theseveral views.

The drawings show the rack to consist of an upper U-shaped piecegenerally designated and made of a wire material of suitable diameterand rigidity. Thus the member 10 consists of an intermediate portion 11and two extending or leg port-ions 1'2 arranged so that the portion 11will of course be spaced from the door such as the door 13 shown in FIG.4. The ends of the member 10 are provided with loops 14 which presentopenings 16 through which screws or other fasteners (not shown) would ofcourse pass for the common purpose of securing the rack to the door 13.

Four wire members or struts 17 are suitably attached in spaced-apartpositions along the upper portion 11 to depend therefrom and extenddownwardly to the lower portion 18 of the rack. Here it will be notedthat the members 17 extend from the outer surface of the member 11 andthey extend downwardly to the outer or lower surface of the member 18. Asignificant feature of the rack construction resides in the angularityand configuration of the members 17 and here it will be noted that theupper portion 19 of each of the members 17 is shown to extend in astraight extent downwardly to an arcuate portion 21 which continues tothe point of connection with the lower member 18.

At this time it will also he noted that the member 18 is provided with aloop 22 which presents an opening 23 through which a screw or otherfastener (not shown) can be passed for securing the rack to the door 13.It will 3,094,217 Patented June 18, 1963 further be noted that thelength of the member 18 is less than the length of the upper member 10and this feature is significant for the purpose of stacking the racks asshown in FIG. 3 by the inclusion of the dotted rack superimposed on thesolid line rack of FIG. 3. Still further, it will be seen in FIG. 1 thatthe lower member 18 is slightly angled between the two opposite halflengths so that upon entering and securing the loop 22 against the door13, the point indicated- 24 in FIG. 1 will of course be securely forcedagainst the door 13 when the loop 22 is drawn tightly against the door13 by the screw mentioned.

As previously mentioned, the an-gularity and shape of the members 17 issignificant in securing the bag in the rack and it will thus beunderstood that folded paper bags or the like can be readily insertedthrough the piece 10 and into the rack to be disposed between themembers 17 and the door 13 in the obvious manner. However, due to theangularity and curvature of the members 17, the bags will beautomatically and readily secured in the rack as they tend to expandbetween the door 13 and the smaller confines of the rack at the lowerends of the members 17. This securely holds the bags in the rack asmentioned. This is true since the bags are of course pushed downwardlyinto the rack to the lower-most position depending upon the numbers andtherefore the thickness of the bags, so that if only a few bags areplaced in the rack, they would be pushed down in the rack until theyengage the portions 21 of the members 17 and this would bring the bagsinto snug contact with the door 13 so that the bags would not fall outthe open sides of the rack. Also, if a greater number of bags are to beplaced in the rack, then they would be perhaps higher in the rack, andthere-v fore in line with the upper portion 19 of the members 17 wheregreater capacity of the rack is provided. Also, the particularconstruction described permits easy insertion and withdrawal of the bagswith respect to the rack.

Another particular feature of the construction is as mentioned, namelythat the rack has no side pieces extending, for instance, between thelegs 12 of the member 10 and the lower end of the rack, and thereforethe rack can be readily nested one above the other in a very compactrelation for the purpose of conserving display space. This of coursebecomes particularly important in present-day merchandising and ittherefore permits that the racks be :made of a substantial size so thata large quantity of bags can be held and large size bags can be held.

It will thus be understood that a rack for retaining paper products isprovided and it will be particularly noted that the free ends, that isthe hook portions 14, of the upper members leg 12 and the lower member18 are in one upright plane while of course the inter-mediate portion 11of the member 10 is in a vertical plane offset from the one comm-onupright plane mentioned. Then the interconnecting members 17 extendbetween the intermediate portion 11 and the lower member 18 at an angleoblique to the upright plane throughout the entire length of the members17 and thus a lesser space is provided from the upper end of the rackdown to the lower end of the rack and therefore the paper products canbe wedged into the rack and retained therein without requiring thatthere be any side members on the rack and therefore a simplified rack isprovided and the stacking feature can be accomplished as shown in FIG.3. In this connection it will of course be understood that the racks canbe laid on a store shelf with the members 17 down and the legs 12extending upwardly so that the dotted rack shown in FIG. 3 would ofcourse be laid over the lower solid-line rack and a number of rackscould thus be stacked in this manner. It will still further berecognized that the legs '12 are angled downwardly from the upper end ofthe members 17 and thus the stacking of the racks progresses invirtually a vertical direction even though the racks are offset as shownin FIG. 3. Thus an acute angle is formed between the legs 12 and themembers 17 as shown in FIG. 3.

It will further be noted that the interconnecting members have a shortupper end 26 which is shown to be disposed parallel to the plane of theloops 14 and 22 and this is of course at an acute angle with respect tothe upper member 12 as described. Thus when the racks are stacked oneabove the other with the interconnecting members 17 disposed in thelower-most position on the shelf or the like, the upper end 26 and thelower end 21 prevent the racks from sliding out of the verticallystacked position and this is as indicated in FIG. 3. In other words,

both ends 21 and 26 extend upwardly from the lower hori zontal portion19 of member 17 to prevent sliding which would upset the stacked racks.

Also, the bottom curvature 21 further serves the purpose of causing thebags to actually ride up or rise in the rack when the user inserts ahand into the rack and presses the bags toward the member 17 and thebags are then caused to follow the angle or curvature of the portion 21and rise in the rack as mentioned so that the greater capacity of therack at the upper end is utilized and more bags can then beaccommodated.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that certain changes could be madetherein and the invention therefore should be limited only by the scopeof the appended 7 claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A rack for paper, comprising an upper member of a U-shape includingtwo legs and an intermediate portion, a lower member spaced below saidupper member and disposed parallel to said intermediate portion thereof,said members including means for mounting same on an upright supportwith said upper member in a horizontal plane, the free ends of said legsand said lower member being disposed on a common upright plane and withsaid intermediate portion of said upper member being spaced from saidsupport and with said lower member being adjacent said support, andinterconnecting J-shaped members disposed inwardly from said legs andextending between said intermediate portion and said lower member at anangle oblique to said plane to present a progressively lesser space fromsaid support in the entire extent of said J-shaped members from saidupper member to said lower member for securely holding differentthicknesses of said paper along the length of said J-shaped members.

2. A wire rack for paper and arranged for stacking on a horizontalsupport, comprising an upper member of a wire material and disposed in aU-shape including two legs and an intermediate portion, a plurality ofinterconnecting members of a wire material attached to and spaced alongsaid intermediate portion and depending therefrom in an upper portionand a straight central portion and a lower portion and with the latterdisposed laterally beyond said interconnecting members, a lower memberof a wire material disposed in the vertical plane of the free ends ofsaid legs and therebelow and parallel to said intermediate portion andextending transverse to said interconnecting members and being attachedto the lower ends thereof, said upper portion and said lower portionbeing offset from the straight line of said central portion and directedinwardly toward said upper member and said lower member, respectively,adapted for nesting of one said rack on top of another said rack whensaid racks are stacked on said horizontal support, and for said lowermember to present a decreasing space downwardly therealong with saidvertical plane for securely holding different thicknesses of said paper,and means on said upper member and said lower member for attaching saidrack to an upright support.

3. A wire rack for paper and adapted for compact stacking of a pluralityof racks and each said rack arranged for securely holding quantities ofpaper, comprising an upper member of a wire material and disposed in aU-shape including two legs and an intermediate portion of a selectedlength and being disposed in a horizontal plane, a plurality ofinterconnecting upright members of a wire material attached to andspaced along said intermediate portion for a distance less than saidselected length and depending therefrom at an acute angle with respectto said horizontal plane and said legs and with the latter disposedlaterally beyond the upright planes of said upright members, a lowermember of a wire material disposed along the vertical plane common tothe free ends of said legs and therebelow and extending parallel to saidintermediate portion of said upper member and transverse to saidinterconnecting upright members and being attached to the lower endsthereof, said interconnecting upright members being disposed to bedirected toward said lower member in a manner to provide a progressivelydiminishing space between said interconnecting members and said verticalplane in the downward direction, means on said upper member and saidlower member for attaching said rack to a vertically disposed support,said rack being devoid of any members in the space extending from saidupright members to beyond said vertical plane and intermediate saidupper member and said lower member for stacking of said rackssuccessively in said space.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS579,566 Drenning Mar. 30, 1897 866,634 Dunlap Sept. 24, 1907 917,170Short Apr. 6, 1909 1,359,125 Stevens Nov. 16, 1920 1,755,654 Kottke Apr.22, 1930 2,813,767 Berg Nov. 19, 1957

1. A RACK FOR PAPER, COMPRISING AN UPPER MEMBER OF A U-SHAPE INCLUDINGTWO LEGS AND AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION, A LOWER MEMBER SPACED BELOW SAIDUPPER MEMBER AND DISPOSED PARALLEL TO SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION THEREOF,SAID MEMBERS INCLUDING MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAME ON AN UPRIGHT SUPORT WITHSAID UPPER MEMBER IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE, THE FREE ENDS OF SAID LEGS ANDSAID LOWER MEMBER BEING DISPOSED ON A COMMON UPRIGHT PLANE AND WITH SAIDINTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID UPPER MEMBER BEING SPACED FROM SAID SUPPORTAND WITH SAID LOWER MEMBER BEING ADJACENT SAID SUPPORT, ANDINTERCONNECTING J-SHAPTD MEMBERS DISPOSED INWARDLY FROM SAID LEGS ANDEXTENDING BETWEEN SAID INTERMEDIATE PORITON AND SAID LOWER MEMBER AT ANANGLE OBLIQUE TO SAID PLANE TO PRESENT A PROGRESSIVELY LESSER SPACE FROMSAID SUPPORT IN THE ENTIRE EXTENT OF SAID J-SHAPED MEMBERS FROM SAIDUPPER MEMBER TO SAID LOWER MEMBER FOR SECURELY HOLDING DIFFERENTTHICKNESS OF SAID PAPER ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID J-SHAPED MEMBERS.